Kansas City Royals: Landing Jurickson Profar just became easier

The Kansas City Royals find themselves in a better position to sign Jurickson Profar after the recent flurry of moves made by San Diego.

For the Kansas City Royals, this offseason has been a pleasant surprise as general manager Dayton Moore hasn’t been afraid of spending money to fill voids in the roster, putting together a much more enjoyable product ahead of the 2021 season.

After bringing in Mike Minor to solidify the rotation and Carlos Santana to add some thump in the middle of the lineup, the Kansas City Royals are still looking to add another left-handed bat who can play either third base and/or the outfield.

Soon after Dayton Moore made that statement, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported that the San Diego Padres and Kansas City Royals were two teams in talks to sign free agent Jurickson Profar who spent the 2020 season in San Diego.

However, after a recent flurry of high-profile trades and moves, the Padres landed infielder Ha-Seong Kim out of Korea, one of the top talents in the KBO. San Diego will now have to figure out how to fit both their newest addition and second baseman Jake Cronenworth into the lineup, but the signing of Kim likely opens the door a little wider for the Royals to walk in and sign Profar to fill a utility role in Kansas City.

Like other Dayton Moore signings this offseason, Profar isn’t going to help move the needle very much towards playoff contention, but the switch-hitter does provide Kansas City with someone who can hit from the left side of the plate and play multiple positions, including around the diamond and left field.

Profar played in 56 games for the Padres last season, slashing .278/.343/.428 with seven home runs and a 111 wRC+. He was worth 1.3 Wins Above Replacement, matching his 2019 total in 139 games with the Oakland A’s.

He may be a career .238 hitter with a wRC+ of 90, but Profar has done a solid job across his career of limiting strikeouts, posting a career strikeout rate of just 16%, with a 9% walk rate.

Profar also has some pop and a knack for piling up the extra-base hits. Between 2018 and 2019, Profar hit 20 home runs in each season and totaled 59 doubles with eight triples over that span with Texas and Oakland.

And despite league-average speed, Profar has 31 stolen bases in his career, providing a bit of production on the basepaths. He’s been caught only eight times, giving him a stolen base success rate just a hair under 80%.

Jurickson Profar isn’t going to live up to the top prospect status he once had, but he can be a solid contributor, versatile defender, and valuable addition to a Kansas City Royals lineup in 2021.